Ginny Weasley and the Sword of Gryffindor
by savvyliterate
Summary: Ginny Weasley's sixth year at Hogwarts is a nightmare. When fate and a cryptic prediction from the Sorting Hat provide Ginny with the means to help Harry, she winds up on the run as she races against the Death Eaters to make it to Harry's side. HPGW HGRW
1. Alone

**Author's Notes: **This is a "what if?" story, brought about by the musing of a single question - what if Ginny had gotten away with stealing the real Sword of Gryffindor from Snape's office? Even though I am working on several other stories, this is one that refuses to leave me alone until I pay proper attention to it. Much love goes to my two Betas for this story - **cwarbeck** on SIYE and **smartasschef14** on LiveJournal. They have helped to convince me that the idea behind this story isn't strange at all.

-----

Chapter One: Alone

For the first time since the beginning of her second year, Ginny Weasley dreaded coming to Hogwarts. At that time, she had ridden in a carriage trembling while trying to shake off the effects of the Dementor attack on the train. Now she stood before the great doors leading into the castle preparing to start her sixth year, one hand gripping Pigwidgeon and Arnold's cages and the other Crookshanks' basket. Her jaw was set, her face calm and serene, but her heart beat as fast as the wings of the Golden Snitch.

"Come along now," Professor McGonagall told the students and Ginny relinquished control of the three animals she'd brought with her. McGonagall's gaze met Ginny's for a moment and she gave a brief nod.

Students were only allowed to bring one animal to school, but Ginny had cornered her Head of House after an Order meeting and begged to bring both Pig and Crookshanks in addition to her Pygmy Puff. Ginny had taken over the care of the two animals after Harry, Ron, and Hermione disappeared after Bill's wedding. She didn't want to lose her only tangible ties to her brother, her best friend, and... Ginny's eyes filled for a moment as she thought of poor Hedwig, sacrificed in the same battle that claimed Mad-Eye Moody. Then those same thoughts turned to Hedwig's owner and an ache pulsed deep in her heart. She blinked the tears away and, head held high, walked into Hogwarts.

Despite the order from the Voldemort-controlled Ministry that all students were forced to attend Hogwarts, the Great Hall seemed about as vacant as it had at the end of the previous term. Ginny's eyes skimmed the tables, her heart constricting once more when she realized that precious few Muggle-borns sat among them. They had gone into hiding when the Ministry act declaring that all Muggle-borns be registered had been issued. She thought of Hermione and prayed that wherever she was that she was safe.

Most of the returning students were Slytherin, a realization that did little to ease the ball of ice that seemed to be a permanent fixture in Ginny's stomach. The second-highest student turnout was from Gryffindor and Ginny knew the situation was dire when even the sight of Romilda Vane was a good one. Romilda glanced over her shoulder, caught Ginny's eye and then immediately leaned in to whisper to the girl next to her. Ginny's small amount of pleasure instantly evaporated. She made her way to the Gryffindor table and took the seat next to Neville Longbottom.

"Ginny!" Neville impulsively threw his arms around her and Ginny returned the hug. She pulled back to give her friend a serious look-over. He seemed much older, more like the Frank Longbottom she glimpsed in the picture of the original Order of the Phoenix that Harry had once shown her. "How are you? I'm sorry I couldn't make your brother's wedding. I heard it was a smashing ceremony until..."

Ginny squeezed his arm, giving him the first genuine smile she'd managed all day. "I'm fine. It's so good to see you," Ginny said honestly, then glanced over at the light blonde-haired girl sitting at the Ravenclaw table. "And Luna as well. Because of everything that happened, I haven't seen her since the day of the wedding. Did Luna tell you about the attack?"

"Yeah, on the train. Why weren't you with us?"

"Professor McGonagall insisted that I Floo to Hogsmeade and meet the other students," Ginny said. She stared at her empty plate, wanting to fidget with the silverware. "She said I would probably be a target at the Express because of..."

"Your relationship with Harry?" Neville asked kindly.

"Former," Ginny automatically corrected him, but didn't put much strength into those words. It was the exact reason why so many precautions had been taken for her return trip to Hogwarts. Her relationship with Harry was now a well-known fact among the Order of the Phoenix ever since Professor McGonagall mentioned it casually during discussions on how to get her to the Hogwarts Express. Her mother had promptly burst into tears and Ginny was quite sure she was planning the wedding already. Even though Ginny insisted they were no longer a couple, no one seemed to believe her. It didn't help that a newly pregnant Tonks had pulled Ginny aside and teased her for snogging Harry on his birthday in front of her open window. Ginny thought her face would be permanently scarlet when she realized just how many people in the garden had seen their embrace.

"Is it really true that Ron's so sick?"

Ginny's eyes met Neville's, hoping that he could see the truth in them so she wouldn't have to say anything. The official word was that both Harry Potter and Hermione Granger had disappeared, the former due to being Voldemort's number one target and the latter due to the fact that she was one of the best mates of said target and because she was Muggle-born. Ron Weasley was laid up at the Burrow, sick with a nasty case of Spattergroit. One of the few highlights of Ginny's summer after the wedding had been the reaction of the Ministry officials who had come to deduce Ron's whereabouts. They had literally flown from the Burrow after catching a glimpse of the transformed ghoul and even screamed when Fred offered to share the Spattergroit with them.

"Do you know who the headmaster is?" Lavender Brown asked as she took the seat next to Neville. She scanned the table. "Hey, where's Ha..." she stopped when Ginny shot her a pointed look, then sighed. "I should have known."

"My letter didn't say anything either." Colin Creevey took the seat next to Ginny and nudged her ribs. "Hey, you missed the train ride. Lock lips with the Boy-Who-Lived and suddenly you get first-class treatment?"

"Shove it," Ginny laughed and poked him back, immensely grateful to see her best friend. She laughed when he threw his arms around her and gave her a loud smack on the cheek, which she returned by cuffing him upside the head. "I'm so glad you're here."

"Mum and Dad are going to be furious," Dennis announced from his place next to Colin. "We snuck out."

Ginny's jaw fell. "You didn't!"

"We snuck out of the house last night and made it to London this morning thanks to the Knight Bus," Colin said, looking very smug. "Neither of them wanted us to come back, but we weren't going to do anything just hiding at home. Unfortunately, we're going to get a Howler or two. I wish your mum hadn't told mine about them."

"Mum feels it's her sacred duty to inform Muggle parents about them," Ginny replied and gave Colin a cheeky grin. She remembered his reaction to the Howler Ron got during her first year after he and Harry had stolen the family car to get to Hogwarts.

Seamus Finnigan took the seat next to Lavender. The normally exuberant boy was now subdued as he leaned forward. "Dean's on the lam," he whispered.

Dennis's forehead wrinkled. "He's riding a lamb? Where?"

"On the lam," Ginny corrected him, having heard the term from Hermione. "It means he's on the run from Vold… You-Know-Who." Her heart constricted at the thought of her ex-boyfriend being hunted down by Death Eaters because of his blood status. She and Dean hadn't worked out, but he was still a very sweet boy all the same. He would be perfect for someone like one of the Patil twins, or even one of her own roommates - if they were even there this year. A glance around the table revealed none of her fellow sixth-year female Gryffindors. "How'd you find out?"

"We worked out a code right before the end of term, when Professor Dumbledore died," Seamus explained. Lavender teared up and gave a loud sniff. "You know, just in case something like this happened. He managed to get an owl to me right before he left."

"Maybe Harry will find him," Lavender said hopefully. "He's on the run out there as well. If anyone could find Dean, I bet Harry could. I wonder what he's doing?"

"I think he's looking for a secret weapon to defeat You-Know-Who," Colin said.

"I think Harry should shoot him with a Muggle gun," Dennis piped up.

Lavender wrinkled her nose. "How barbaric. Why doesn't he just…" Her voice trailed off and the colour drained from her face. She grabbed Seamus's arm and pointed toward the head table.

Seamus gave her a confused look, then followed her finger. His jaw dropped. "Bloody hell!" he cried as more students started to look toward the head table.

Ginny froze as a frenzy of whispers erupted around the Great Hall. The ball of ice in the pit of her stomach suddenly blossomed into full nausea as she warily met Neville's gaze. He looked to be caught between fury and fear. With every ounce of her Gryffindor courage, she forced herself to turn around.

The teachers stood at the head table in front of their seats. In the middle, in the place where Albus Dumbledore once sat, Severus Snape stood. Black robes billowed around him. Stringy, greasy hair framed a face that was paler than usual. He peered down his crooked nose at the student body with a mixture of triumph and loathing.

Ginny heard Lavender burst into tears and Seamus murmuring words of comfort. She wanted to cry herself. The tears burned in her throat and she was caught between breaking down and hexing the former Potions Master off the dais. Her hand found Colin's and squeezed hard. "I wish Harry was here." The words burst from her in a whisper before she could stop them.

Colin squeezed her hand back. "I wish he was too."

"As some of you may not know, the Board of Governors have appointed me the new Headmaster of Hogwarts as of today," Snape announced, bringing all the whispers to a halt. "The Ministry has taken a vested interest in your education and they see me as the only man fit enough in these times to ensure that you are prepared for whatever faces you. I assure you that those students who experienced great leniency in previous years will find their privileges greatly reduced." His gaze bore into Ginny's as he said this and she glared defiantly back at him.

"As always, the Forbidden Forest is just that - forbidden. Those students who are foolish and big-headed enough not to heed that warning will deserve the consequences." Snape kept his focus on Ginny. "Mr. Filch has a list of banned products, including any and all things associated with the name Weasley." He said these last words in a sneer and Ginny's wand arm jerked in reflex. The only thing keeping her under control was the vice-like hold Colin suddenly had on her arm.

"Due to the lack of participants along with a Ministry mandate, there will be no House Quidditch teams this year," Snape continued, bringing the first audible reaction from the student body. Professor McGonagall looked nearly as furious as her students. "Silence!" he roared, and everyone fell silent again. "This is not the time to engage in frivolous games. Only those whose egos are sustained by such nonsense will suffer the loss." He flicked another glance toward the Gryffindor table.

Snape nodded curtly to two figures on his left. Ginny gasped in horror as she realized that Amycus and Alecto Carrow were now among the teachers. Amycus, the lumpy Death Eater she had dueled with months earlier, was scanning the student body with a shrewd expression. His gaze fell upon Ginny's and his teeth bared in what could be termed a delighted grin. Ginny shuddered, wishing she could shower after that leer. She thought of the near-missed Crucios he had nearly cast on her and how Harry had caught him off-guard by stopping to help her in his pursuit of Snape.

"Your new teachers this year will be Amycus and Alecto Carrow," Snape continued. "Amycus has quite the talent with the Dark Arts and will be overseeing a through restructuring of the class. Alecto will take over Muggle Studies." He said the last two words as if they were a curse in and of itself. Ginny's heart sank even further. "Both classes are now required for all years and will be on your timetables accordingly. The Carrows will also be in charge of whatever discipline is administered this year."

Snape flicked his finger and a silent Professor McGonagall led the few first-years who had enrolled into the hall. They had been gathered in a small clump near the door while Snape announced the changes. Ginny thought of Ron's comment about how they seemed to get smaller every year and, for the first time, she found herself agreeing with him. The first years looked terrified as they huddled together in a clump, looking around the Great Hall in a mixture of fear and awe.

McGonagall placed the Sorting Hat's stool in front of the table, then the hat on top of it. The familiar tear didn't appear for a long moment, causing a buzz among the older members of the student body. Then it appeared, the song coming from it much different than any Ginny had heard during her previous years at the school.

_"Those who remain will bear the torch,  
They will be the ones to carry on.  
Of those sitting here, some won't survive,  
but their memories will stand the test of time.  
The one who was Chosen will become a Phoenix,  
His presence here will signify the end.  
The Phoenix's Chosen will be the one to bear his sword,  
his burdens, his troubles, and make him whole.  
She knows what she has to do.  
Six shall be gathered, seven shall be destroyed.  
Four started Hogwarts.  
Four shall save it in the end.  
Now to those who are new, it is your turn to be Sorted…"_

Ginny never heard the rest of the song as the Hat sang about the differences among the Houses and the Sorting process. The buzz had returned among the older students. Voices were no longer whispers and drowned out what the Hat was singing. Every eye seemed to be focused on Ginny and she didn't need Hermione's analytical mind to figure out whom the Sorting Hat was talking about. She realized for the first time what it was like to be Harry Potter and found herself greatly sympathizing with him.

"Silence!" Snape bellowed, causing a few of the first-years to shriek. The Hat had fallen silent. Snape gave Ginny a particular vicious look before ordering McGonagall to continue with the Sorting.

The rest of the feast sped by in an amazing blur. Ginny knew she had put food in her mouth, but didn't remember what she'd eaten. It all tasted like sawdust to her. Her emotions swirled in a mixture of anger, loathing, fear, and loss as she processed the Sorting Hat's song. The Chosen One… Well, everyone knew it was Harry. Quite frankly, you'd have to have spent the past 16 years living beneath a rock not to realize it was Harry - even if they didn't know the contents of the prophecy.

Ginny Weasley was one of approximately two people still living to know the entire contents of the prophecy Voldemort had sought during her fourth year. Professor Dumbledore had told Harry in his fifth year. Harry had told Ron and Hermione of the prophecy, but he had only given them a summary and not the entire thing.

She stirred her chocolate pudding and thought back to the day that Harry had told her one of his greatest secrets.

_The time they had together had taken on a surreal quality in the days following Professor Dumbledore's death. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny had all taken to spending all of their time together when they weren't visiting Bill in the Hospital Wing or getting ready to go back home. Every afternoon, for at least two hours, Harry and Ginny retreated to their favourite spot by the lake where they curled into each other and watched the Giant Squid in the water. They didn't snog or explore the way they had done before that terrible night. They simply needed to be together._

_Ginny knew it was coming. She had known it almost from the first day of their relationship and had taken on the knowledge that their time together wouldn't last long when a blushing Harry had finally asked her to be his girlfriend. He'd been so endearing that day following the Quidditch match, after he had snogged her in front of their entire House. He'd been crossed between hopeful and terrified and her response had been to embrace him and whisper "yes." That single word of acceptance meant she took on the burden of having to let him go._

_She didn't question what he was going to do. She might not be the brightest witch of her age, but she was smart. Harry had described a little bit of what he and Professor Dumbledore had done that year and Ginny knew it had something to do with Voldemort. She hadn't liked not knowing what was going on. She had never been a fan of being kept in the dark, one of those things that came with being a little sister. But, she knew that this was important and, quite frankly, if Harry couldn't keep his vow to Professor Dumbledore to keep his secrets, how could she trust him with theirs?_

_She thought of that and those decisions she made as she enjoyed the simple pleasure of sitting in Harry's lap while he ran his hands though her hair, the long strands sliding around his calloused fingers as he played with it. Their times together these days were normally quiet, but today seemed even quieter than normal. He seemed to be weighing something, a very important decision. Ginny was half-expecting today to be the day, the day where she would have to give him up so he could save them all. She closed her eyes and silently begged to whatever powers that were listening to have him delay that final decision. She wanted him for herself just a little bit longer._

_His hand stopped moving and his hold on her suddenly tightened. Ginny's breath caught in her throat._

"_There is…," Harry said haltingly, sounding not sure of himself at all, "there is a prophecy. About me."_

_She covered his hand with hers. "I know that, Harry." She smiled, her eyes sparkling just a little. "I was there at the Department of Mysteries, remember?"_

"_Yeah," he chuckled and she shifted so she could look into his eyes. He stared down at her for a long moment, and then touched his forehead to hers. "I know what it says," he said quietly. "Professor Dumbledore told me after Sirius died. He told me that I could tell Ron and Hermione, that Sirius wouldn't want me to shut myself off. He didn't know - I certainly didn't at the time, that I liked you. More than a friend, that is. I think, if I was to ask Professor Dumbledore about it today, he would say he would trust me to make the right decision. They don't even know the whole thing, Ron and Hermione. I think you should know so that… I think you should know. Because there's other things I can't tell you. But, I can tell you this and I think it'll help you understand and I trust you. I don't think anyone will go after you regarding the Prophecy, because as far as Voldemort is concerned, the only copy is gone."_

_Ginny realized the amazing gift Harry was giving her. "I promise, I'll carry this to my grave," she said solemnly. He tensed and she pinched his arm. "Don't take it so literally."_

_He let out a half-laugh. "Sorry. Hard not to these days."_

"_You're forgiven." Ginny pressed a finger to the tip of his nose and he smiled. He glanced down at their hands, and then worked his fingers between hers._

_Harry stared over Ginny's head at the lake, and she silently waited for him to speak. "Pretty much," he finally said, "I'm the only one who can kill Voldemort. There's part of it that says it - that neither of us can live while the other survives." _

_Ginny said absolutely nothing. She didn't think she could speak. Her heart was beating so loudly that she was convinced it could be heard in Hogsmeade. She threw her arms around him, giving him the tightest hug she possibly could. It was a very good imitation of one of her mum's bear hugs. She was relieved when he returned the embrace and they sat clinging to each other desperately until the sun dropped below the horizon and the first stars of night emerged._

_When they stood to go back in the castle, she caught his face in her hands and gave him a slow, lingering kiss. They snogged for a good twenty minutes, something deep inside Ginny telling her that this would be the last for a very long time. They headed back to the castle, hand in hand._

_Professor Dumbledore's funeral had been the next day._

"Ginny? Ginny, come on. Dinner's finished."

Ginny startled, the memories fading as the Great Hall came back into focus. Colin stood by her side, giving her a worried frown. "Neville's helping the first years get to the common room without running into Peeves. Say, did you realize they haven't appointed any prefects for Gryffindor this year?"

"No," Ginny said automatically and got to her feet. "I don't think there's any to be honest. Remember what he said," she said, referring to Snape with the viciousness she would give a nasty hex. "The Carrows are in charge of all our discipline this year." She sighed. "Why do I have a feeling that they're going to make Umbridge look like the tooth fairy?"

They were the last to leave the Great Hall. Because Colin looked so worried, she pasted a smile on her face and took his arm. "Last one to the common room's a dancing Hippogriff!"

"Oi!" Colin yelled and Ginny laughed, dancing ahead of him. She ran down the corridor, her red hair waving behind her like a banner. The forced cheerfulness actually made her feel light-hearted and she kept laughing, spinning in circles as she made her way toward Gryffindor Tower.

She never heard the jinx being cast. One minute, she was dancing, the next she had fallen. She landed on her knees, and heard a crack come from the left one. Then she was curled into a ball on the stone floor, her left leg buckled beneath her while horrific pain shot up her leg. Ginny pressed both hands against the cold stone and forced herself to look up. Whatever colour remained in her face drained when she recognized Amycus Carrow looming over her.

"Well, well, well, isn't it Harry Potter's pretty young thing? Ginny Weasley." Amycus's mouth curled into the same leer he had given her during the feast and Ginny very nearly lost what little food she managed to consume. He clucked his tongue and waved his wand slightly at her. "Didn't you know, Miss Weasley, it's not safe to run in the corridors? You never know when you might trip and land badly."

"She didn't trip! You hexed her!" Colin yelled.

Amycus shot Colin a nasty look. "_Crucio._"

"NO!" Ginny yelled as Colin collapsed to the ground screaming. She tried to get to her feet, but the pain coming from her left knee was excruciating. She collapsed onto her face again as Colin's screams subsided.

"Ten points from Gryffindor for each of you." Ginny managed to look back up at Amycus Carrow as he sauntered away. "Things in this school are going to be much different now."

––-

Ginny and Colin wound up dragging each other back to the Gryffindor common room. She had managed to shake off most of the Jelly-Legs Jinx that had been cast on her, but Colin wasn't taking the after-effects of the Cruciatus very well. They wound up nearly falling through the portrait hole after the Fat Lady gave a shriek and swung open without demanding a password. Ginny pulled Colin into the room and collapsed, tears of pain streaming down her cheeks.

"Merlin's beard!" Seamus cried out as he, Dennis and Neville rushed to their side. "What happened?"

"Amycus Carrow," Ginny managed to say through gritted teeth. "Cast a Jelly-Legs Jinx on me and the Cruciatus on Colin."

"What?" the boys yelled, Seamus nearly dropping Colin in the process.

"Can you walk?" Neville asked, kneeling next to Ginny.

"My knee's killing me." She grabbed his arm and let him lead her to an armchair. Neville pulled over a footstool and Ginny propped her left knee on it. She didn't protest when Neville blushed and pushed aside her school robes and her skirt just high enough to reveal her left knee. It had swollen to more than twice its normal size with black and yellow colours streaking angrily over it.

"Blimey, Ginny, you need Madame Pomfrey," Seamus said as he came back down from where he and Dennis had taken Colin to the sixth-year boys' dormitory. "You both do."

"We can't go back out there now. We'll just have to make the best of it." Ginny summoned her _Standard Book of Spells Grade 6_ from her room. The book zoomed into the common room and into her outstretched hand. Hermione had made a point of telling her that standard healing spells were covered during sixth year. She flipped to the one she wanted and cast an _Episkey_ on her knee. The swelling went down and while the pain was still there, it was more bearable.

Ginny pushed herself to her feet and stumbled to the stairs leading up to her dormitory. She stared at the circular staircase and fought back a groan. None of the boys could help her upstairs and there really wasn't any of the Gryffindor girls she felt comfortable with asking. She gritted her teeth, took that first step and nearly sank to the ground in pain.

"Oh, honestly!" Ginny found the bulk of her weight settle on someone's shoulder and she glanced to her right to find herself leaning on Romilda Vane. Romilda shot Ginny an exasperated look. "Really, you're going to stand there gaping like a fish all night or let me help you? I've got no idea what Harry sees in you anyhow."

"It's the freckles," Ginny managed as the girls slowly made their way up the stairs. "Drives the blokes daft, you know."

"Obviously," Romilda said with a slight toss of her head. They didn't say anything else as they stumbled into the sixth-year dormitory. Ginny noticed with a pang of grief that all the other beds in her year were not occupied. Crookshanks had claimed one of the empty beds for himself while Arnold perched on Ginny's pillow, a pile of shed purple fur already surrounding him. Pigwidegon was nowhere to be seen and was probably in the Owlery.

Romilda and Ginny stopped by Ginny's bed and she sank gratefully onto it. "Thank you," she said sincerely.

Romilda didn't say anything at first, and then shrugged as she headed for the door. "Despite appearances, I'm not a complete prat," she said lightly. "Even though you did steal my Harry from me." She disappeared before Ginny could groan in response.


	2. The Dark Arts

**Author's Notes:** Many thanks again to my wonderful betas **cwarbeck** and **smartasschef14**. Also, much appreciation goes to an observation made by reviewer EnFuego, whose observation led to an expansion of Colin's role in this story. The book mentioned later in the chapter, Rasse und Seele was a real textbook used in Nazi Germany. Scans of it can be found on Wikipedia. Also, the information about Hermione only having 10 O.W.L.s was made in the corrected version of HBP. It's mentioned on the HP-Lexicon. Finally, the inspiration for Arnold was taken from the marvelous, yet adult-rated H/G story "Lions in Winter" by BeccaFran. It can be found on Checkmated.

Ж•Ж•Ж•Ж•Ж

Chapter 2: The Dark Arts

The next morning, Ginny woke up to find Arnold chewing on a strand of her hair and Crookshanks curled between her legs. She nudged the cat aside and plucked Arnold out of her hair. The Pygmy Puff bounced over to a newly seated Crookshanks and settled on his back, munching on a patch of fur. Crookshanks gave Ginny a long-suffering look and she giggled. She noticed it was two hours before classes and there was plenty of time to visit the Hospital Wing before breakfast.

The hot shower she took loosened the stiffness in her knee enough so that her walk to the Hospital Wing was mostly painless. Not for the first time in the past day, she wished she had the foresight to nick Harry's Invisibility Cloak or at least find one for her own. Then she brushed off that sentiment quickly. She was the sister of Fred and George Weasley. They'd been sneaking around the castle just fine without the help of an Invisibility Cloak for years. She had a feeling her brothers would be disappointed in her for wanting such a crutch anyhow. Besides, Harry needed it far more than she did.

She didn't tell Madam Pomfrey why she was there, but the school nurse knew anyhow.

"Those Carrows," Madam Pomfrey said in disgust as she repaired Ginny's knee. "Five cases of Jelly-Legs Jinx, not including yours, Miss Weasley, and three Cruciatus within the past 12 hours. It makes me sick, I tell you. Positively ill. Professor Dumbledore is probably spinning madly in his grave right now, mark my words."

The thought of her deceased Headmaster doing flips underground made Ginny want to laugh a little. "Four," she said quietly. "Amycus Carrow got Colin Creevey as well."

Madam Pomfrey pursed her lips until a thin line formed. She turned to her cabinets and pulled out a vial of amber liquid. "You give this to Mr. Creevey when you see him," she ordered Ginny before sending her down to the Great Hall for breakfast.

Ginny was so early that she was the only Gryffindor at the table. Her famous Weasley appetite decided to make a return and she loaded a plate with eggs, kippers, toast, and fruit. She had just taken her first bite when Professor McGonagall entered the hall and headed straight for her.

"Good morning, Miss Weasley," McGonagall said. She gave Ginny an appraising look. "Madam Pomfrey told me that you visited the Hospital Wing this morning."

"It wasn't much…" Ginny started to say, but McGonagall dismissed her with a huff.

"It's… Well, I am not at liberty to say what I think of the rather extreme disciplinary actions taken against you and Mr. Creevey last night. Cruciatus on a sixth year..." McGonagall looked close to wanting to throttle someone. "In any case, we need to discuss what classes you're taking this year, Miss Weasley. You did very well on your O.W.L.s."

Eight O.W.L.s. It wasn't the 10 that Hermione had gotten, but it was more than the seven Ron had received. Mrs. Weasley cried and refused to stop hugging Ginny once the O.W.L. results had gotten in. "She made nearly twice the number you lot did put together," she told Fred and George, which had caused Ginny to laugh and the twins to roll their eyes.

"Have you given any further thought to a career?" McGonagall asked.

_Beyond professional Quidditch player? No. I was rather preoccupied with other matters this summer_, Ginny thought with some amount of bitterness. She shrugged. "I'm sorry, Professor McGonagall, I really haven't."

The look on her head of House's face softened. "It's been a rough summer for you, Ginny," she said sympathetically. Ginny glanced up, shocked at the use of her real name. "Why don't we proceed with the basics for you now? Potions, Transfiguration, Charms, Herbology and… Muggle Studies and the Dark Arts." Professor McGonagall looked furious once more.

Ginny wanted to sink into her chair and disappear. Even though she enjoyed Muggle Studies, she had no wish to be taught by Alecto Carrow, nor by her equally foul brother. "I suppose Ancient Runes then to complete my schedule."

"Splendid. It'll be an excellent year for you and it'll keep you quite busy." McGonagall tapped her wand on a clean piece of parchment, then handed Ginny her timetable. "I had planned on offering you captaincy of the Gryffindor Quidditch team this year in Potter's absence. You would have done a splendid job."

_So would Harry_, Ginny thought miserably as Professor McGonagall started to move away. She started to turn back to her breakfast.

"Oh, Miss Weasley?"

Ginny's fork hovered over her plate as she glanced down the table. "Yes, Professor?"

A smile tugged at the corner of McGonagall's lips. "You will be very busy this year with your chosen schedule. However, don't shy away from the chance to engage in a few extracurricular activities. It will give you a chance to practice some much-needed skills. Have a good day, Miss Weasley. Mr. Creevey! Over here, please!" McGonagall turned away to beckon to Colin, who had just limped into the Great Hall.

"What in Merlin's name does she mean by that?" Ginny wondered aloud.

"It means that Professor McGonagall wishes you to reform Dumbledore's Army."

Ginny whirled around, her gaze meeting Luna Lovegood's. Her jaw fell as she considered Luna, and then looked back at McGonagall. She suddenly felt extremely giddy as she met Luna's eyes once more and grinned.

Ж•Ж•Ж•Ж•Ж

The first day of classes sped by extremely fast. The day started out with double Potions, but she actually enjoyed working with Professor Slughorn outside of the entire Slug Club mess. Anything was better than Professor Snape, she rationalized. The lesson had been the same that Harry, Ron, and Hermione had for their first class the previous year. Ginny inhaled a whiff of Amortentia and felt like crying at the scent of a freshly mowed Quidditch pitch, firecracker residue and the rich, earthy scent that she associated with Harry.

Because of the reminder that Harry wasn't there, Ginny's mind hadn't been on her work, and so she lost her chance at the coveted vial of Felix Felicis when a Hufflepuff's Draught of Living Death had turned out quite a bit better than hers. At the moment, she didn't really care to have a sip of liquid luck. She simply wanted Harry. She wondered if she could persuade Professor Slughorn to let her have a vial of Amortentia just so she could have a little bit of Harry near her.

"Miss Weasley, stay a moment, please?" Professor Slughorn asked as the rest of the students headed toward their next class. Ginny considered her timetable. Her next class was Transfiguration, but Professor McGonagall would excuse her being late since Professor Slughorn had asked her to stay.

Slughorn gave her a worried look. "Your work was not up to its usual standards." He shook his head slightly. "A pity, a pity. I suppose I shall have to give this to you directly." He handed Ginny a vial of Felix Felicis.

She stared at it in shock for a moment. "But, Professor, I didn't earn…"

"No, you didn't earn it, Miss Weasley. You need it. You'll know the time you need to use it. I suppose the Sorting Hat knows what it's doing." He clasped Ginny's shoulder. "Now, run along before Minerva has my head for keeping you late. You won't mention this to anyone, right?"

"Of course not, sir," Ginny clutched the vial of potion to her chest and gazed at her Potions instructor with new respect. They both knew she wouldn't forget who helped her when she needed it. "Thank you, Professor Slughorn."

"Along with you. And Miss Weasley? Should you happen to communicate with Mr. Potter… well, you know what to tell him." Slughorn saluted her with an empty vial. Ginny rewarded him with a tremulous smile and fled.

She had just enough time during break to run up to Gryffindor Tower and hide the Felix Felicis in a pair of Harry's old socks that she had nicked from his trunk during the summer. She actually had a few pieces of Harry's clothing and she was quite sure he never missed it. She had taken to wearing one of the ghastly oversized shirts he had inherited from his cousin Dudley as a nightshirt - after performing some necessary alterations on it. Then she raced for Transfiguration, sliding into her seat next to Colin just as class started.

During lunch, Ginny ran back to Gryffindor Tower, this time going through her trunk until she found the charmed Galleon that Hermione created nearly two years earlier when Dumbledore's Army was initially formed. She stared at the Galleon in her hand, realizing that the master one Harry had used was either with him or in his trunk, which was still at the Burrow. She pursed her lips. A Protean charm was a N.E.W.T.-level spell and she technically could perform it if she could track it down easily. She took the time to flip through her copy of The Standard Book of Spells Grade 6 and saw with some amount of relief that it was one of the very last spells in the book.

She took the coin with her to double Charms, where they started at the very beginning of the book. Ginny took the chance to flip to the back every so often to read about what the Protean charm entailed. After Charms, she headed back to her dormitory. Grateful for the first time to be alone, she locked the door and started practicing.

It took her most of the evening and only the growling coming from her stomach made Ginny realize that she missed not just lunch, but dinner as well. She ignored her stomach for a moment as she worked the charm on the coin she held. She had to wipe Hermione's old charm so she could make her coin the master one. With a grin, she managed to change the message on the coin she held to indicate that the DA had returned. She slipped it into her pocket, released the locking charm she set on the door and headed downstairs.

Ginny barely crested the bottom step before she was surrounded by a group of sixth- and seventh-year Gryffindors, along with Dennis Creevey. Her brow furrowed when she saw the hopeful looks they were giving her. "What's going on?"

Neville dug into his pocket, and then displayed his charmed Galleon. The numbers that Ginny had enchanted on there lit up like Christmas lights. "We got your message," he said with a lopsided grin.

Amazed, Ginny watched as Seamus, Colin, Lavender, and Dennis pulled their coins from their pockets.

"I take it the DA's back?" Seamus asked hopefully.

"Been recruiting since 1995. You just missed out on last year's membership drive," Ginny quipped and dashed out of the common room to sneak some food from the kitchens before curfew.

Ж•Ж•Ж•Ж•Ж

The first day of classes was easy.

The second was a nightmare.

Ginny breezed easily through Herbology, but found herself a bit perplexed in her Ancient Runes coursework. The difficulty more than doubled from fifth year and Ginny wondered how Hermione could still call it her favourite subject. She could already feel the headache forming behind her temples as several feet of parchment were assigned for homework. She added it to her mental 'to do' list and headed to lunch before double Defense… no, she corrected herself, double Dark Arts.

For the second time in recent memory, the legendary Weasley appetite failed her as Ginny thought of the afternoon to come. She had just convinced herself to at least try the pork chops when Seamus and Neville came limping into the Great Hall. A collective gasp went up from all the tables but Slytherin at the purple and yellow bruises surrounding Neville's left eye. Seamus had taken on most of Neville's weight even though his arm hung at a funny angle.

Lunch forgotten, Ginny raced to their side and took Neville's weight from Seamus. "What happened?" she cried as she helped Neville to the closest seat, which happened to be at the Ravenclaw table. "Why haven't you gone to Madam Pomfrey?"

"Hospital Wing's pretty full up at the moment," Seamus groaned as he sank into the seat next to Neville. "We had double Dark Arts this morning."

Ginny was in the middle of casting an Episkey on Neville's eye injury as he said this. "How bad was it?" she asked quietly.

Neville managed a chuckle. "I didn't think anything could be worse than one of Professor Snape's classes, or even an Umbridge detention."

Ginny Summoned a glass of ice from the Gryffindor table and poured it into a napkin. She pressed it against Neville's eye before turning her attention to Seamus's arm. She wished she had a copy of her mum's The Healer's Helpmate and made a note to herself to stop by the library and check out whatever books they had on healing. She had a feeling she was going to need them.

"I don't think it's broken, but I don't know the spells to fix this," she told Seamus apologetically. "I'm sorry."

"Not your fault. You did a right good job fixing up Neville." Seamus managed a pale imitation of his winning smile before grimacing in pain. "Blimey, that hurts."

"Here, I know the spells." Terry Boot appeared at Ginny's shoulder and she stepped aside so the seventh-year Ravenclaw could take over. "I'm going to be a healer when I graduate," he explained as he waved his wand over Seamus's arm. "I was setting up shop in our common room after the fourth- and fifth-years had Dark Arts yesterday. This isn't as good as Madam Pomfrey's, but you'll be better after you rest it an hour or so."

The pain eased from Seamus's face. "Feels better already. Thanks, mate."

"What happened?" Ginny asked Terry.

Terry sighed. "Dunno yet. Seventh-year Ravenclaws don't have Dark Arts until after our sixth-years do today. No one's willing to talk about it. Orla Quirkle, two years younger than you, wouldn't stop crying even after I fixed her knees. I heard that Amycus Carrow got you in the halls last night."

"Madam Pomfrey healed my knee this morning." She had also managed to slip Colin the potion before their double Potions class.

"By the way. Is this true?" Terry glanced over his shoulder at the Head Table where only Professor Flitwick sat talking with Hagrid. He pulled his DA Galleon out of his pocket. "You're reforming the DA?"

"It appears to be the rumor," Ginny said with a smile. "I'll set a time for us to meet in the Room of Requirement, most likely this weekend. Pass the word on quietly?"

A few minutes later, Ginny headed warily to the dungeons for her first Dark Arts class. They shared this class with the Ravenclaws and that eased Ginny's mind considerably. It was probably oversight, but she was immensely grateful that they didn't have Dark Arts with the Slytherins like the seventh years did.

"What's so bad about the class that no one is willing to talk about it?" Ginny wondered aloud as Luna fell into step next to her.

"It's the Nargles," Luna said seriously, looking concerned. "They've become infested with Dementor droppings and they're vexing everyone who enters the dungeons."

Ginny decided she would rather face Nargles than Amycus Carrow. She stepped into Snape's old classroom for Defense and found it pretty much the same as it was during the previous term. None of the students were in their seats, but had gathered together in small clumps. Ginny and Luna approached Colin Creevey, who was talking to a dark-skinned boy in Ravenclaw. Ginny struggled to recall his name, then remembered him as Milo Lewis, one of Ravenclaw's Chasers.

"We've decided that all the girls are sitting with a guy today," Colin announced as they joined them, his face unusually serious. "You'll sit with me. Luna can sit with Milo here."

Luna smiled at both of them. "Hello, Milo Lewis. Hello, Colin Creevey." Milo eyed Luna as if she had her own case of Spattergroit, but seemed resigned to sit next to her.

Ginny opened her mouth to ask why, but her words were instantly cut off by the loud bang of the dungeon door as it slammed shut. The class turned as one, Milo Lewis suddenly huddling close to Luna. Bravery isn't his forte, Ginny thought as she stared at Amycus Carrow.

The frumpy Death Eater had on the same robes Ginny had seen him wear during the feast. She recognized the frayed sleeves and the wrinkles that covered the garment. What was on there now that wasn't before were splashes of red that looked suspiciously like blood. She sucked in a deep breath and forced herself to look Amycus… no, she thought bitterly, Professor Carrow in the eye.

"Good afternoon, class!" Amycus said in an all-too-cheerful voice. He leaned against the desk, eyes glittering. "Welcome to your first Dark Arts class, a place where you will learn the wonderfully seductive powers of the Dark side of magic."

He started down the aisle between the desks. "In your first five years here, the farce of a Ministry and the simple-minded Headmaster that ruled over you insisted that you learn how to defend yourself from this sort of magic. No one has bothered to teach you the beauty, the mystery, the… power of the Dark Arts." Amycus reached the end of the aisle and caressed his wand lovingly before flicking it at the aisle. "_Fiendfyre!_"

Huge flames erupted from Amycus's wand, racing down the aisle toward the teacher's desk. Students screamed and scrambled out of the way of the fire, but Colin's copy of the Standard Book of Spells Grade 6 got knocked off his desk in the process. It fell into the fire and promptly turned into soot.

Amycus laughed and waved his wand. Ginny watched in horror as the fire took on the shape of a giant serpent. Memories pounded in her brain as the serpent looked perilously close to a basilisk and…

"Ginny!" Colin screamed and yanked Ginny back in the nick of time as the fiery serpent passed within inches of her robes. She grabbed hold of Colin to steady herself as the fire beast faded away.

Most of the desks in the room were destroyed. No _Reparo_ could undo the damage. The students pressed into two corners, some of the Ravenclaw girls crying. Ginny forced herself to remain calm. As the only Gryffindor girl, it wouldn't do at all for her to fall apart.

"S… S… Sir?" One of the Ravenclaw girls squeaked. "Isn't that sort of magic illegal?"

Amycus dismissed the girl with a flick of his wand. "_Crucio._" The girl fell to the ground screaming.

Ginny leaped forward and immediately found herself facing the business end of Amycus's wand. "I wouldn't do that if I was you, Miss Weasley," he drawled in a way that reminded her far too much of Draco Malfoy. "Go on now. Back with you!" He shooed her back and she rejoined Colin and the other sixth-year Gryffindors. "Now then, shall we continue with our lesson?"

The so-called lesson turned out to be a demonstration of various curses - the students themselves being used as target practice. If the situation hadn't been so hideous, Ginny knew she would have found Colin suddenly going off at the mouth about garden gnomes due to a well-timed Babbling Curse to be hilarious. The corners of her mouth twitched as Luna decided that she was going to answer every single one of Colin's comments, her speech nearly growing as fast as his.

"_Confringo._"

Ginny heard the curse being uttered and whirled around, instinctively casting as she did so. "_Protego!_"

The desk inches away from Ginny exploded, debris hitting but not penetrating her shield. She kept her wand raised, pointed at Amycus, a taunt on the tip of her tongue. Every ounce of self-control went into keeping her lips shut, but she didn't stop her gaze from boring into the Death Eater's.

After a moment, he lowered his wand and inclined his head. "It seems apparently those so-called Defense lessons have sunk into your head, Miss Weasley. Pity. They do dull the effect of a full Blasting Curse. Twenty points from Gryffindor for hiding behind a shield. Dismissed."

Ж•Ж•Ж•Ж•Ж

On Friday, Ginny had the extreme displeasure of attending her first Muggle Studies class. Alecto Carrow stood before all the sixth years from the combined Houses, Slytherin out-ranking everyone. A tall stack of purple books was stacked on the desk. Ginny made sure to sit with Colin and Luna, only for her inner peace of mind more than anything. The Ravenclaw girl who had taken the Cruciatus Curse the previous day during Dark Arts hadn't come to the class. Luna mentioned in a whisper that she was still in the hospital wing.

"I do believe she's faking it," Luna said as the girls took two unoccupied chairs with a third seat open next to Ginny for Colin. "She insists that her constitution can't take any more trauma. However, I saw her interact quite plainly with a Knickerbocker just last night when I took her her homework. You have to have quite the constitution to interact with a Knickerbocker."

Ginny thought a Knickerbocker was actually some sort of baggy Muggle garment, but wasn't quite sure. Before she could think to ask, Colin slid into his seat, panting heavily, and then, Alecto began speaking.

"In the past three years, you have all been treated to the… generic view of _Muggles_." Alecto spat out the word as if it was an Unforgiveable. Then again, Ginny thought, Muggles were Unforgiveable to Death Eaters.

"However, there are one or two Muggles who might have been influenced by some of the great Wizards of our time, the most recently being a man who was personal friends with Grindelwald." Alecto flicked her wand and the pamphlets went flying to each of the students. "His name was Adolf Hitler."

With a ball of ice forming in the pit of her stomach, Ginny dropped her gaze to the cover of the book. The words Rasse und Seele was embossed on it with the title repeated in English, Race and Soul. The author was listed as a Dr. Ludwig Ferdinand Clauss. Her knowledge of languages wasn't very solid, but the mentions alone of Hitler and Grindelwald made Ginny think that the original language was German.

"This book shows how Muggles took tactics created and inspired by pureblooded witches and wizards to weed out those with…impurities." Alecto's gaze flickered briefly to Colin. "By the time this class is finished, all of you will be able to do the same."

Ж•Ж•Ж•Ж•Ж

Thoroughly shaken, Ginny accompanied Colin down to the Great Hall for lunch after that dreadful class. They had no lessons that afternoon and she was planning to spend the time crafting tentative plans for the DA. If future Dark Arts classes were going to be anything like the one she witnessed the previous day, they were all going to need an extraordinary amount of protection to get through the year.

Something was tugging at the back of Ginny's mind and her eyes went wide as she remembered one of the new rules told her by her parents in the chaos surrounding her return to Hogwarts. With a growl, she grabbed Colin's arm and hauled him into an empty classroom. He stared quizzically at her as she slammed and locked the door before placing an Imperturbable Charm on it. She whirled around to face him, eyes blazing.

Colin tilted his head to one side. "Um… I take it you're not here for a snog?"

"Colin!"

He laughed nervously and shuffled his feet. "That look on your face means you've must connected the dots, eh?"

"Connected the dots?" Now Ginny was the one confused. "What in Merlin's name is that?"

"Muggle game," Colin explained faintly and saw Ginny moving for her wand. "I take it you remembered about the decree?"

"That Muggle-borns aren't allowed to attend Hogwarts any longer? Yeah, loud and clear now! When I saw you and several other Muggle-borns, I thought it was one of those wild rumours - you know, like the one circulating until the day term started that Bellatrix Lestrange was going to be Headmistress. Mum about passed out, but Dad reassured her that one couldn't be true. Colin, are you insane? You're going to get killed! How did you even get inside the school to begin with?"

Colin shuffled his feet nervously. "So, I didn't quite tell you the entire story…"

"Colin!" Ginny pointed her wand at him. "Talk, or I find a handy target for my Bat-Bogey Hex."

"But, Professor McGonagall said…"

"_Talk!_"

Colin limply dropped into an empty chair. "You can't tell anyone."

"Because I really like putting your life in danger anymore than it already is," Ginny said sarcastically as she dropped into a second seat. "How are you, Dennis, and the other Muggle-borns here? There's not many, but I recognized at least three others during the start-of-term feast."

"There are six of us in all. I didn't lie to you, I swear!" Colin insisted. "When we got word that Muggle-borns weren't allowed to attend Hogwarts any longer, Mum forbade me and Dennis from going back anyhow. I still wanted to come, so did Dennis. A few days before the Express left, I snuck out of the house and told Mum I would handle registering at the Muggle high school. She left with Dennis and I took the Knight Bus to Diagon Alley."

"Once I was there, I went to the Leaky Cauldron and asked Tom to contact Professor McGonagall. She took me into one of Tom's private rooms and we argued for a good 20 minutes about my going. She finally relented and said Dennis and I would be safer at Hogwarts than otherwise. So, she told me about the loophole in the Ministry policy and said not to register as Muggle-borns."

"Which is?"

Colin gave her a rueful grin. "The law allows half-bloods to attend Hogwarts. It never defined who is considered a half-blood."

Ginny wrinkled her nose. "Pardon?"

"From our understanding, half-bloods have one Muggle parent and one magical parent, yeah?"

"Right. Or they're the child of at least one Muggle-born parent who is magical."

Colin nodded. "The draft of the law that got entered into books doesn't clarify who exactly a half-blood is. That's been fixed now, with a clarification of the differences between Muggles and half-bloods. But, at the time for a few days, that loophole existed. So, Professor McGonagall went looking through our family history. Mum and Dad both have magical relatives apparently. One was Mum's older sister who died the year before I was born. My Uncle Bane who lives in the States is also a Wizard. Dad's parents divorced when he was young, and my grandmum got custody of Uncle Bane. They moved to Nebraska and Dad never really talked to his brother. So, Uncle Bane attended some magical school in Wyoming."

"So, because those relatives are blood relations, Professor McGonagall could enroll you?"

Colin nodded once more. "Yeah, pretty clever, eh? A lot of that stuff went over my head, but I got to attend Hogwarts. That's all that mattered. Everything else is the truth regarding me and Dennis sneaking out. Professor McGonagall told me about the law being clarified when she gave me my timetable on Tuesday. Snape nor the Carrows knew about it until they saw the two of us plus the other four Muggle-borns on Monday night."

Everything started to fall into place for Ginny. "Amycus Carrow torturing you. Granted, he does that to everyone, but the way he looked at you…"

Colin nodded. "He just found out I was registered as a half-blood. They're not taking the six of us out of the school though, Professor McGonagall told me. You know the book we're studying in Muggle Studies? The one about weeding out those who aren't pure? It was for the Nazis, a horrible Muggle regime back in the 1940s that is just like what's happening here now. I studied it in primary school, because of the Nazis attacking England during World War II."

"My Muggle history isn't what it should be," Ginny admitted.

"I'll tell our house about it. It's something we should know. Anyhow, if I'm guessing right, the six of us will be used as examples and will be brainwashed."

"That's insane! Colin, you should go home right now!"

"No!" The normally happy-go-lucky look was gone from Colin's face as he rose from his chair to tower over Ginny. "I'm not going to go crawl into a hole somewhere while Harry and others are out there fighting for me! This is my war too, and I'm going to do what I can to fight it."

Ginny considered Colin long and hard for a moment. "Fine," she said. "You can help me, Neville, and Luna organize Dumbledore's Army."


	3. The Return of Dumbledore's Army

**Author's Notes:** This chapter was originally published on another site in 2008, but I never managed to get it up here. Oops. Enjoy, and I apologize for the delay!

Ж•Ж•Ж•Ж•Ж

Chapter 3: The Return of Dumbledore's Army

"There has been a change in the rules," Snape's voice drawled, cutting through the normal buzz of early morning conversation during breakfast on Saturday. He made the statement without any sort of preamble, but it had the same effect as if he had called for complete silence. All talk ceased in the hall as the wary student body turned their attention to their new Headmaster.

It was the first time Snape had been seen since the start-of-term feast, and it didn't surprise Ginny one bit. He was too busy being Voldemort's right-hand man to run the school, she guessed. That responsibility he apparently left to the Carrows, as word of their Dark Arts classes quickly spread to the few students who hadn't taken them yet.

"I have spent the week with a Ministry consultant, Dolores Umbridge. Many of you are familiar with her. She has taken time from her extremely busy schedule, especially considering an unfortunate incident earlier in the week, to give me suggestions about certain rules to implement at Hogwarts. These will be carried out immediately." Snape produced a roll of parchment and proceeded to read off many of the Educational Decrees that Umbridge passed during Ginny's fourth year - with the exception of a High Inquisitor being named. Unfortunately, the decrees regarding no student organizations without Headmaster approval and of students not being allowed to congregate outside of their common room in groups more than three were among the first reinstated.

Many eyes turned to Ginny, who coolly buttered her toast while Snape droned on. She tossed a wink at Luna, then a subtle nod at Neville. As soon as breakfast was finished, she promptly got herself lost in the post-meal crush of students and snuck out to the Whomping Willow. She stilled the tree and slipped into the passage. She got about halfway when she skidded to a stop. A large, solid brick wall covered the entire chamber. Ginny frowned, backed up a few feet and cast a _Reducto_ at it. It did nothing.

She crept back out of the passage and sighed. Fred and George had told Ginny about the Marauder's Map and even showed it to her before they gave it to Harry in December of her second year. She ached to have that map in her hands at this moment and silently cursed Harry for taking it with him. Now _that_ he didn't need. He wasn't even in school this term! Ginny kicked a rock angrily, then glared at it fiercely. For the first time since Harry left, anger boiled inside of Ginny. It wasn't fair. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were far away from the school and they had left Ginny behind to deal with this incredible mess. The longer it took for them to find whatever it was they were looking for, the worse things got at Hogwarts.

She got to her feet and dusted off the back of her robes. She had a sudden urge to see Hagrid, to attempt to gnaw her way through a rock cake while he rambled on about magical creatures. It would come at a price. Hagrid had been thrilled when Harry and Ginny began dating and had the two come around to his place one afternoon so he could gush over how similar they were to James Potter and Lily Evans. It wound up being an overly sentimental visit with both Harry and Ginny comforting the half-Giant as he cried into an oversized handkerchief, lamenting about how Harry was no longer a little boy.

Ginny worried her lip, her heart aching. Maybe Hagrid wasn't such a good idea after all. She glanced over her shoulder, then pulled her DA coin out of her pocket. There were no Quidditch tryouts, and she heard a rumor that both the Gobstones and Wizard Chess clubs were forbidden to meet. She tapped her wand to the Galleon and charmed a time to meet in the Room of Requirement. 2 p.m. - during one of the most boring hours of a long Saturday with nothing to do.

She started for the castle, then froze when she noticed something flicker out of the corner of her eye. Her hand dropped to her wand and she carefully scanned the grounds. A few students gathered near the steps, but no one else was actually out taking a walk. Then she noticed it again, a quick flash of brilliant red. Moving with lightning-quick reflexes, Ginny yanked out her wand and shot a hex at the flash. She heard a thump and a scream of pain before great bat bogies started flapping around an invisible being.

Her heart leaped into her throat. She only knew of one person with any sort of invisibility cloak. "Harry!" Ginny cried, rushing to the figure.

"Not Harry! Ow! Ow! Geroff!" One of the twins' voices came from beneath the bat bogies. From a few feet away, Ginny heard a howl of laughter belonging to her other brother.

The anger that had been boiling inside her spewed out like a botched potion. With a snarl, Ginny shot a Bat-Bogey Hex at the second invisible figure, hitting her mark. "How could you?" she screamed at them while the invisible twins yelled and swatted at the bogeys. "How could you make me think that you were Harry? Have you no shame at all?"

"You're the one who thought we were Harry! We didn't say anything!" one of the twins yelled.

"For once!" the other cried.

Ginny snarled at them, but cancelled the hex all the same. A few moments later, both twins flickered into view. George lay at Ginny's feet while Fred flailed on the ground a few meters away. Ginny stared at them for a long moment, guilt swamping her. For once, they were right. Fred and George had been unusually sensitive to Ginny's feelings regarding Harry's departure, and it was her own imagination that caused her to think Harry had possibly come back.

"Well now," George wheezed. "We know what to tell Harrikins whenever we see him next."

"Stuff it," Ginny growled and pointed her wand at him.

"She's not glad to see us? I'm crushed, George."

"It doesn't look good at all. Sure Potter knows what he's getting himself into?"

Ginny narrowed her eyes at them. "What are you doing here?" she asked in a blatant attempt to change the subject. "How did you manage to sneak onto the grounds? And where are your Invisibility Cloaks?"

"Not wearing any." Fred got to his feet and made a great show of dusting off his clothes. "Oi, let's go into the tunnels."

"They're blocked," Ginny protested, but followed them to the Whomping Willow anyhow.

"Nah, just need to talk." Fred levitated a rock to the knot in the trunk and the three slipped inside.

When the passage sealed shut behind them, Fred dug into his pocket while George lit his wand. Fred produced a familiar-looking Galleon with an even more familiar-looking message. "Is this what I think it is, short one?" he asked, holding it in front of Ginny's nose.

"It's a Galleon, of which I have precious few." She tried to snatch it from him, but he dangled it out of the way. "You know what it is, Fred. Did you believe that I'd sit here for the next nine months darning socks and waiting for Harry to come home safe and sound?"

"No, but that's because the one time Mum tried teaching you how to knit, one of the needles wound up nearly castrating Ron," George replied.

Fred wiped away a mock tear. "It was a thing of beauty."

Ginny grinned. Every time Ron had been remotely close to her for the next week, his hands had instantly flown to the front of his pants, as if expecting her to suddenly produce a knitting needle and come after him. "Tit for tat, brothers dear," she replied saucily. "I'll let you know what's going on with the DA and you tell me how you managed to sneak onto the grounds without the Carrows catching a whiff of you."

George produced a small velvet sack from his back pocket and tossed it to Ginny. She worked open the ties and saw a small mound of a glittering white powder inside.

"Remember the Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder?" Fred asked, leaning against the wall.

She shot him a dirty look. "How can I possibly forget since that's how Draco Malfoy managed to sneak Death Eaters into the school last year, costing Professor Dumbledore his life?" The twins paled at that remark.

"It has its good uses too," George pointed out. "We started developing this around the same time, but it took a lot longer."

"Pretty much, it's the opposite of what we had to do to the darkness powder," Fred added.

"Very tricky indeed."

"Verity claims she was going to come in and find the shop blown to smithereens."

"Try some," George urged. "Sprinkle some on me."

Ginny took a pinch of the powder and sprinkled it over George's head. He instantly disappeared. She grinned. "Wicked," she said in awe.

"The only problem is that it doesn't last that long unless we apply it constantly. But, we wanted to test it in a controlled environment and see if it at least isn't detectable." Fred looked rather morose for a moment. "I suppose Harry took the Marauder's Map with him, didn't he?"

"Don't remind me. I was just lamenting that fact this morning."

Ginny spent about three hours with the twins, though it felt like only an hour had passed. She told them about what was happening in the school, and they let her know what was going on at home. The only reason she knew that so much time had gone by, was that her stomach decided that there was a definite lack of food and was determined to make itself heard by letting out a loud growl.

"Oi!" George leaned his good ear close to her stomach. "Is that the Hogwarts Express I hear in there?"

"Stuff it," Ginny muttered as she pushed her brother away. "I'm starving. You don't have any sandwiches on you, do you?"

"Nah. We probably should head back to Hogsmeade." Fred got to his feet and, in an exaggerated move, pulled Ginny to hers. He bowed low over her hand before letting it go. "It's been a pleasure to conspire with you, m'lady."

Ginny did a mock curtsy. "And with you as well," she said with a grin.

George opened the bag of invisibility powder and threw a pinch over Fred's head, then himself before depositing the rest of the bag into Ginny's hands. "Here you go! Courtesy of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes!"

"Give 'em hell for us, Gin!" Fred's disembodied voice sounded.

Ginny opened the tunnel and watched as the depressions on the dirt moved away from the Whomping Willow and into the distance. She stared at the bag in her hands and quickly pocketed it. Ginny emerged from the tunnel and headed for the school, her spirits buoyed. If Fred and George followed through on their promise, and she had no doubt that they would, the combined Dumbledore's Army would be a force to be reckoned with. It wasn't just that. Having the twins around meant that she could maintain contact with the outside world a lot easier than waiting on filtered news from the _Daily Prophet_ and the scant possibility that maybe one of the Golden Trio would attempt to slip her some sort of message.

Harry's face flashed in Ginny's mind, and she quickly shook her head to clear the image. _I will not brood. I will not brood,_ she ordered herself as she approached the front doors. Her steps slowed when she recognized the students lounging in front of the entrance in school robes despite the weekend. Fantastic. Bloody fantastic, she thought as Pansy Parkinson and Draco Malfoy's lackeys, Crabbe and Goyle, suddenly turned their eye in her direction. Golden prefect badges, the only ones issued in the school, gleamed on their chests. Knowing it was too late to change course, Ginny squared her shoulders and prepared to take on the Slytherins.

"Twenty points from Gryffindor for being out of uniform, Weasley," Pansy called out as Ginny ascended the front steps.

"Funny, last time I checked, uniforms weren't mandatory on the weekend, Parkinson," Ginny replied in a frosty voice. Her hand slipped to the waistband of her jeans, palming her wand.

"Another 20 points if you even think of drawing that wand on me, Weasley," Pansy added, laughter dancing in her eyes. "Or, are you a coward like your brother and won't even face what's coming to you?"

Temper, vicious and hot, suddenly raged through Ginny. Her grip on her wand tightened to the point that for a quick second, she thought the wood would break.

"You know, you could get a chance to earn some of those points back." Goyle swayed close to Ginny, until he was breathing all over her face. She was quite convinced that he had never learned the concept of utilizing a toothbrush, toothpaste, or a breath-freshening charm. "Go with me to Hogsmeade, and I'll give you 50 points. More if you…," his gaze skimmed down Ginny's body, lingering on her chest before sweeping back up, "…perform adequately."

After the incident in the Chamber of Secrets, Bill and Charlie had taken it upon themselves to teach Ginny how to make a proper fist, and where to hit a boy if she wanted to disable him. It was that training that propelled Ginny's right hand to suddenly clench into a fist, and plough it into Goyle's pudgy nose. The punch knocked him back a few feet and he howled, waving his wand sharply at her in retaliation. Ginny quickly dodged the stunner and slipped inside the school and past a group of giggling Slytherin girls who had been making their way to the front door. She heard Crabbe's laughter at Goyle's expense as the great doors swung shut.

Good mood having evaporated, Ginny decided it was time to find Neville and Luna. A hand slipped into her pocket and fingered the Galleon that she carried. She could try to summon them with the charm, but it wasn't that far to the Ravenclaw tower. Then there was the Room of Requirement. She could probably go there and summon Neville and Luna. Or, maybe she could check the library first. Deciding the latter course, Ginny headed for the stairs.

An odd feeling crawled up her spine as she started up the stairs and reached the landing between floors. _I'm being followed._ Ginny quickly picked up her pace and heard the distinctively creaking that meant one of the staircases was about to move. She quickly leaped onto it as the bottom step separated from the landing and nimbly ran up it. She glanced over her shoulder to see a furious Pansy glaring at her. She indulged in a childish moment and stuck her tongue out at the Slytherin before making her way up to the fourth floor.

She found Neville in the library, surrounded by a stack of books that could rival a Hermione reading spree. "What's all this?" she asked, tapping the top of one stack, then recognized the volume in his hands - one that she had seen Hermione read often. "Is that _Hogwarts: A History_?"

"Yeah." Neville flushed slightly and set the worn book down. "I have a theory about the Room of Requirement."

"Really?" Ginny slid into the seat opposite Neville's. She glanced around the unusually crowded library. The lack of extracurricular activities had prompted the bored student body to actually complete their homework on time. She pulled out her wand and quietly cast a _Muffliato_, prompting Neville to quirk his eyebrows at her. "Spell of Harry's," she explained. "I'll teach it during the DA meetings. It'll come quite in handy. What did you find?"

"Not much," Neville admitted. "I'm sure Hermione researched it, but she wasn't exactly forthcoming with the information that she found at the time."

"No, she wasn't," Ginny agreed. Harry, Ron, and Hermione had explained the very basics about how to get to the Room of Requirement for the DA members, but had given them specific phrases. Based off later conversations she had with Harry, Ginny quickly surmised that he didn't know much about the room itself beyond the ability to provide what he needed in his mind at the time. If Hermione had found out more, she didn't share it with him.

Neville summarized the basic information about the room, of which there was very little in the texts. What scant information there was stated that the room was little more than a myth created by the House Elves. "However," he said, "I've been thinking about what the room can and does provide for people and wonder how specific it can get."

"Well, whenever we needed training materials, the room provided it for us," Ginny said.

"The problem is, if someone knew the purpose the room was being used for at the time, they could quickly route out the DA," Neville continued. "Once word gets around that the DA is back in business, it won't take the Carrows long to storm us."

It was true, Ginny realized, and probably why Pansy had tried following her. She was a Slytherin, but she wasn't stupid. If she could trace Ginny up to the Room of Requirement, she could quickly put two and two together and figure out that the DA was reforming. If one of the Carrows came up to the room and walked in front of it wanting to join the DA, the room would let it in. It was how the Inquisitional Squad had discovered them during her fourth year.

"I've got a theory," Neville said and stood. He beckoned to the door. "Want to try it out?"

"Of course!" Ginny followed Neville from the library and immediately stopped when she spotted Pansy and several of her friends lingering near the stairwell that would eventually take them to the seventh floor - but thankfully no Crabbe and Goyle. She placed a finger on her lips and quickly pushed Neville through the nearest door - which happened to be the girls' loo.

"G… Ginny!" Neville squeaked, his face turning scarlet at the row of sinks and toilet stalls. "This is…"

"I know what it is. Don't get your boxers in a twist, we're only going to be in here a second." Ginny pulled out the bag of invisibility powder and quickly sprinkled some on Neville just as one of the toilets flushed. She whirled around, placing herself in front of the invisible Neville as Luna emerged from one of the stalls.

"Hello, Ginevra. Hello, Neville," Luna said casually as she crossed over to one of the sinks and washed her hands.

"I'm doomed!" Neville moaned. "I've been caught in the girls' loo! Just go ahead and sentence me to the Carrows now!"

"No, you're not, you're invisible!" Ginny hissed at him. She turned back to Luna. "How could you see him?"

"You missed his trainers," Luna said smoothly as she took a paper towel and wiped her hands. "He's worn the same pair of trainers for the past year. They're quite distinctive and covered in doxy droppings. It's hard to miss them."

Ginny glanced at the floor and saw Neville's worn trainers, which indeed had suspicious spots on them that could be attributed to doxy droppings. She quickly tossed a pinch of the powder at them. "We're going to the Room of Requirement," Ginny told Luna. "We want to try something. Could you provide a distraction while Neville and I slip up the stairs?"

Luna tilted her head and wound a strand of blonde hair around her index finger. "I suppose it wouldn't be of much trouble to provide one." Without asking whom she needed to distract, Luna made her way out of the loo.

"Mental, that one," Neville said rather fondly, and Ginny had to agree. She sprinkled invisibility powder over herself and led the way out of the girls' loo.

"I tell you, I don't know where you placed your lost Nargle," Pansy was yelling at Luna as they made their way down the hall.

"I quite know where the Nargles are," Luna replied in an unfazed voice. "One of them has crawled into your head and is currently nesting. The white flakes in your hair are simply Nargle droppings from where they have been excreted through your skull. I would love a sample to send back to Daddy."

"I do not have anything in my hair!" Pansy screeched.

"Actually," Millicent pointed out, "you do have a bad case of dandruff."

Pansy rounded on her friend. "Why didn't you tell me before?"

"I tried!"

"It's not dandruff," Luna told Millicent. "Simply the Nargles."

"There's no such thing as Nargles!" Pansy screamed.

Ginny bit her lip hard as she and Neville raced up the stairs. About five minutes later, they found themselves outside of the Room of Requirement, with the invisibility powder still working. Ginny could see the faint outline of Neville's hair starting to appear and knew they only had a couple more minutes before the powder wore off. "Go ahead, test your theory," she urged.

She heard the shuffling of Neville's trainers as he paced in front of the wall opposite the tapestry and moments later a door shimmered into view. It quickly opened and Ginny moved toward it. Just as she came within a foot of the door, it slammed shut and disappeared.

"What the…" Ginny slammed her hands on the wall and scowled. "Neville Longbottom, you let me in this instant!" She grumbled beneath her breath, knowing full well that he couldn't hear her. She quickly turned and rapidly paced three times in front of the wall. _Allow me to join Neville Longbottom._

It didn't work.

She spent the next five minutes trying other variations, all failing spectacularly. Just when she was convinced that Neville had left her out to be nabbed by the Carrows, the door appeared and she quickly hurried inside.

"You prat!" Ginny yelled at Neville and produced her wand. The triumphant look on her friend's face turned to panic as she advanced on him. "Did you have to leave me out in the bloody corridor for five minutes? What if the Carrows had come along, or one of the Slytherins? Tell me why I shouldn't leave you with a ring of bat-bogeys feasting on your face for the next hour!"

Though Neville towered over her by a good seven inches, he shrank away as if he was no taller than a garden gnome. "Because it worked!" he said hurriedly. "My theory worked?"

"What's the theory?" Ginny pointed her wand at him.

"That I can exclude people from the room and no matter what they try, they can't come in!" Neville's words almost came out in one huge run-on sentence and he threw up his arms to ward off any hexes Ginny might happen to toss. He knew all too well the power that the youngest Weasley wielded.

Ginny lowered her wand, impressed. "Really? Wicked!"

Neville peeked through the gap between his arms, then cautiously relaxed. "Yeah," he said after a moment. "I told the room to not allow Ginny Weasley no matter the circumstances. I was thinking back over our DA meetings and remembered Harry looking around for something during the first meeting. Then, all of a sudden, he had a whistle. I figured he thought about a whistle specifically and the room provided it."

"Which we all know." Ginny thought for a moment and a couple seconds later, two plush armchairs materialized in the room. She sank into one of them and Neville took the other.

"Well, I figured that if the room was that specific in creating objects in the room, then it could be that specific in keeping people out." Neville suddenly beamed. "I initially asked the room just to exclude you, to test the theory. Then I changed it. I asked the room to keep out any supporter of Vol… You-Know-Who and the Carrows. That way, the room's safe."

"Neville, you're brilliant!" Ginny sprang out of her chair and threw her arms around the seventh-year, who promptly went red. She whirled around and pointed her wand at the door as it suddenly opened, revealing Colin, Luna, Dennis, and the rest of the Gryffindor sixth- and seventh-years.

"Are we late?" Colin asked, glancing quickly at Ginny's pointed wand and Neville's red face. He shuffled from foot to foot. "Ah… Did we walk in on something?"

"No. And you're quite on time." Ginny beamed as the students filed in. Her hand slipped into her pocket and closed around the bag of invisibility powder. It was, she thought, the best day she'd had in a long while.

Ж•Ж•Ж•Ж•Ж

When all was said and done, the newly reformed Dumbledore's Army had the entire Gryffindor house from fifth year and above, the exception being Dennis Creevey. A good bit of Ravenclaw had also shown up, as well as

Hufflepuff from what Ginny could tell. Even her ex-boyfriend, Michael Corner, was among the group that had answered the summons of the old Galleons. There were no Slytherins among the group, and that suited them all just fine.

"Will we need to sign another contract?" Padma Patil asked Ginny after she took a head count and wrote down names on a piece of parchment.

"I don't think so," Ginny replied. She wasn't sure if Hermione's old contract was still in effect or not, and there was no way to find out. She dearly hoped that there would be no reason to find out if it did or not. "We've worked the Room of Requirement to where neither the Slytherins nor the Carrows can come in."

"What about Umbridge?" Terry Boot asked from a corner where he was looking over at a fifth-year Ravenclaw's banged-up knee.

Ginny turned to him. "What about her?"

"Snape announced at lunch that Umbridge will be at the school next week, performing inspections and giving teachers instructions on how to improve their courses," Lavender spoke up from where she was flipping through a defence book that the room had provided. "She'll be here on Monday morning in time for breakfast."

"The _Daily Prophet_ also had something about it." Padma rooted through the school bag that she carried and pulled out a battered copy of that morning's newspaper. She passed it to Ginny. "It's apparently her first duty back on the job after getting assaulted at the Ministry."

Ginny scanned the article, reading about how Dolores Umbridge lamented about the loss of a "precious family heirloom." Although she could not identify her attacker, she was quite positive that it was the work of the "notorious" Harry Potter.

For the first time in her life, Ginny found herself agreeing with Umbridge completely.

"Do you really think it was Harry?" Neville asked quietly as Ginny read the article aloud to the assembled group.

"I do," she replied, rolling up the paper and handing it back to Padma. "It looks like whatever he's doing, Harry's doing his part. Now, let's do ours. Let's see how we are with Disarming Charms! Neville, help Luna conjure up some Slytherin-type targets while Colin and I go over the basics with everyone else."

Ж•Ж•Ж•Ж•Ж

On Monday morning, what remained of the student population of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry filed into the Great Hall wearing clean and pressed robes. Instead of sitting down to eat, they stood behind their seats and waited as the head of the Muggle-born Registration Commission strode into the hall alongside Headmaster Snape. Once she crossed the threshold, Umbridge's gaze bore down on the Creevey brothers, who stood side by side on Ginny's left.

"As you can see, Headmaster, apparently there are some students who have slipped through the cracks," she said in a frosty voice.

"The Creevey brothers have... documentation," Snape said in a cold voice as he peered down his hooked nose at Colin. "We are in the process of getting this documentation eradicated. We have reasons to doubt the validity of their so-called proof of having half-blood relatives."

Dennis gasped and Colin's hands clenched into fists. Ginny nearly reached out to grasp Colin's hand, but when Umbridge's focus switched to her, she wound up fisting her robes instead.

"You might find it interesting, Headmaster Snape, that we will be conducting an inspection of Arthur Weasley's home in the next few days," Umbridge stated, her eyes boring into Ginny's. "There are reports that their youngest son, Ron, has a nasty case of spattergroit, and it's prohibiting him from completing his seventh year at Hogwarts."

"That is what I've been told," Snape said stiffly.

Umbridge folded her hands in front of her and cast a sidelong glance at Snape. "We at the Ministry take reports such as this very seriously, Headmaster. I'm sure that Miss Weasley here is missing the companionship of her brother. Am I not right, Miss Weasley?"

Her heart pounding so loud that she was quite sure that it could be heard in Hogsmeade, Ginny met Umbridge's eyes. "Madam Umbridge, I dearly miss my brother, Ron. However, I would rather he be safe and happy than to put any of us at risk." Her voice was calm and controlled to the point that she was sure Fred and George would shed tears over her acting.

The best part of all was that Ginny had spoken the complete truth.

Umbridge didn't say a word and sharply turned away from her with Snape tossing a glare at her before following suit. As soon as their backs were turned, Ginny nodded to Luna over at the Ravenclaw table.

Moments later, fireworks suddenly exploded from their hiding place beneath the Slytherin table. The Slytherins jumped back, some falling over themselves as rockets and pinwheels shot out from beneath the tablecloth. Seconds later, the tablecloth itself shot into the air, spilling crockery, plates and utensils everywhere. The cloth flew up, attached itself to the wall. In red cursive writing the words "DUMBLEDORE'S ARMY - WE HAVE RETURNED" spelled itself out.

"What is the meaning of this?" Snape yelled as the Slytherins screamed their outrage and the other houses started to cheer. Ginny stole a glance at the Head Table. Professor Flitwick was dancing in his seat while a smile tugged at the corner of Professor McGonagall's mouth. Both Carrows were glaring at the sign and had got up to assist the Slytherins — Amycus calming the students down while Alecto tried her best to charm the cloth down from the wall. Ginny merely smiled. The Sticking Charm that Luna had cast would last a good 24 hours and then some.

Umbridge whirled around, wand out and pointed at Ginny. "You!" she roared. "You're the one behind this!"

"I beg your pardon!" Ginny had never seen Professor McGonagall move so fast as the professor hurried down from the Head Table and blocked Umbridge's view of her, pulling out her own wand and levering it at Umbridge. "You will not draw a wand on one of my students!"

"She is Harry Potter's girlfriend!" Umbridge yelled at her. "She is the one behind this uprising! Ginevra Weasley shall be taken into custody immediately for questioning on the whereabouts of Harry Potter!"

"Ginny Weasley has no more idea of where Harry Potter is than you or I do," McGonagall shot back. "I will not have you threatening a student under my care!"

"Dolores," Snape said calmly and Umbridge whirled to face him.

"If you're so sure that I'm behind this," Ginny shot out, turning the focus back to her, "why don't you check the school?" Her eyes glimmered with humour. "Prove to me that I reformed Dumbledore's Army."

"I believe I will!" Umbridge swept out of the hall, Snape at her heels.

McGonagall lowered her wand. "You better know what you're doing, Miss Weasley," she said after a moment.

_I hope I know what I'm doing as well._ Ginny stared across the room at the floating banner proclaiming the return of Dumbledore's Army. _Because if our theories about the Room of Requirement don't hold up despite the test Neville did, then we're doomed before we even get started._


	4. Masks of Blood

**Author's Notes:** The method of how Head Boy and Head Girl is chosen is something I carried over from an earlier work that's not published on . Most likely, the Headmaster chooses them like with the prefects, but I do like this one too. I fully think that had they attended school in 1997-98, either Harry and Hermione would have been chosen Head Boy and Head Girl.

Ж•Ж•Ж•Ж•Ж

Chapter 4: Masks of Blood

It took sheer force of will and a steely glare from Professor McGonagall to keep Ginny from sprinting out of the Great Hall and up to the seventh floor to see if Umbridge had broken into the Room of Requirement. She went through her classes that day in a fog, her thoughts centered more on Dumbledore's Army than her coursework. It was only during Defence Against the Dark Arts that her mind snapped completely out of it.

That was because someone was trying to break into it.

She was bent over her textbook, a specially prepared one issued by the "new" Ministry of Magic that listed spells that all good students should know. Ginny had spent Sunday going over the book and discovering that a vast majority of the spells were very dark and shouldn't be taught to adults, much less sixth-years.

It was late enough in the day that her mind only drifted toward Dolores Umbridge once, figuring that if the wicked witch of the Ministry hadn't come around for her by that point, that meant they were in the clear.

Then she felt it.

The moment her thoughts shifted, Ginny felt a very sharp prick in the back of her mind. For a moment, she thought that someone had thrown something at her, and she turned around to see who it was. Behind her, Colin was hunched over his textbook, Luna stared out the window twirling a strand of hair around her finger, and she really didn't know the other Ravenclaws that were in the room. She turned back in time to see Amycus Carrow staring intently at her. The moment their eyes met, she felt the prick in the back of her mind once more and the realization hit her with the force of a _Stupeify._

"Professor," Ginny said quickly, raising her hand. "So sorry to disturb you. I'm need to use the loo." She shuffled her feet, crossed her legs and thought about the toilet.

Amycus didn't reply and Ginny increased her squirming, hoping that she looked like she was in dire need. Finally, he waved a hand at the door. "Ten minutes, or I come after you myself. Your wand remains here."

"Thank you!" Ginny sprinted to his desk, tossed her wand on it and ran out the door. She headed to the nearest girls' loo, where she decided to take advantage of it after all. Then she sank against the stall door, cradling her now-aching head in her hands as she fought to collect herself.

_He's doing Legilimency on me, I'm sure of it. Harry told me a little what it was like, the lessons he had with Snape. It was like a battering ram had slammed into his head. This felt more like a prick though. Is Amycus doing it right? Oh, I wish Hermione was here! _

Ginny tried to remember everything she had heard on Legilimacy and its counterpart, Occlumency. Both of them were extraordinarily hard to learn, and there was no guarantee that the Carrows were anywhere near as skilled as Snape or Professor Dumbledore. She wrapped her arms around her now-shaking legs as she fought to calm down. She had no idea how much Amycus had seen, if he'd gotten through at all. As soon as she felt him the first time, she had broken eye contact. Was it enough?

There was no question about it. She would need to learn Occlumency, and so would the rest of Dumbledore's Army. Amycus was most likely not a very skilled Legilimens, so it wouldn't take that much to keep him from knowing about the Army. But Snape … Ginny shuddered once more.

The summons Ginny had expected all day never came. Neville had seen Dolores Umbridge storm out of the school in a huff later shortly before dinner. Not wanting to take the chance that she would run into a better Legilimens, namely Snape, she headed for the library. Weighing her options carefully, Ginny asked Madam Pince about books on Occlumency.

"Those have all been relocated to the Restricted Section," she told Ginny in a no-nonsense tone. "Do you have permission from a professor to go in there?"

"No," Ginny admitted. "But, I'm sure Professor McGonagall would …"

"Professor McGonagall's time is most valuable and should not be wasted by filling out unneeded forms for the Restricted Section," Madam Pince said in a loud voice, casting a glance at the library door. Ginny angled her head to see Alecto Carrow swoop past the open doors. After a moment, Madam Pince turned back to Ginny.

"Unfortunately, the books you seek were removed at the Ministry's orders," she said in a whisper. "I will not be able to help you further, Miss Weasley."

"I see. Thank you." Disheartened, she turned to leave.

"Oh, Miss Weasley?"

"Yes?" Ginny looked over her shoulder.

Madam Pince gave the closest thing Ginny had ever seen to a smile. It was more like a grimace. "Good luck," she said in the same whisper. "I suggest you see Professor McGonagall about that pass for other research."

Ж•Ж•Ж•Ж•Ж

Ginny thought Dark Arts classes couldn't get much worse. She was wrong.

In mid-October, Amycus Carrow proceeded to give a demonstration of several masks that were imbued with Dark Magic. Each mask automatically suctioned itself to the face of the student unlucky enough to draw the short straw to test them out. To her horror, Ginny realized that the masks drained a user of almost all their blood, leaving only the barest amount to live. The blood from its victims painted the masks a hideous shade of red.

She had gotten lucky. She hadn't drawn the short straw.

Larry Moore, a sixth-year Gryffindor, and Justine Carter from Ravenclaw hadn't been so lucky. After the masks were demonstrated at the beginning of class, the stunned Gryffindors and Ravenclaws had to watch their housemates struggle for an hour as their blood levels were drained to a dangerously low level. Ginny gauged her chances of slipping out long enough to cast a Patronus for help, but noticed that Amycus followed her every movement during the double lesson. As soon as the class was finished and Amycus strode out of the classroom, Ginny immediately cast her Patronus and sent for Madam Pomfrey.

"How do we get them off?" Colin asked a bit fearfully as the entire class gathered around their pallid, unmoving classmates.

Ginny tapped her wand to one of the masks. "_Finite Incantatem_," she recited, but the spell didn't work. She swallowed hard. "I don't think these will come off until it gets the blood it wants from the user."

"But, they're going to die!" one of the Ravenclaw girls wailed.

"Don't you think we can't see that?" Ginny snapped then sighed when the girl plopped on the ground and bawled.

Madam Pomfrey rushed into the classroom and gasped in horror. "You," she ordered Luna, "go for Professor Filitwick right away. Mr. Creevey, go get Professor McGonagall. Miss Weasley, tell me what happened."

Ginny narrated the events of the class as Madam Pomfrey conjured stretchers and started levitating the two students to the Hospital Wing. She had to run to keep up with the matron as she hastily transported Larry and Justine. By the time she finished her explanation they had arrived at the Hospital Wing. To Ginny's surprise, she saw Seamus Finnigan and Lavender Brown occupying two other beds. Seamus was asleep, but Lavender was watching them with one eye wide, the other swollen shut. It looked even worse than Neville's injury from a week earlier and that was saying something.

Professor McGonagall rushed in with Colin at her heels and halted at the foot of Larry's bed. She turned her attention to the battered Seamus and Lavender for a moment and looked like she was about to say something as Professor Flitwick ran into the Hospital Wing as well.

"Justine!" he cried, grabbing her hand. "Poor, poor Justine, what did he do to you?" He burst into tears, his head bent over Justine's hand. Professor McGonagall wrapped an arm around his shoulder until he composed himself. "What on earth happened?"

Ginny found herself narrating what happened in class once more with Colin adding in his perspective. As they talked, Luna walked in with Neville at her side. As Ginny reached the end of her narrative, the bodies on the bed started to twitch. The masks trembled as well until one by one, cracks appeared throughout the blood-soaked clay. Then they crumbled, the pieces landing on the floor with a loud crash and dissolving into smaller parts. Blood splattered Ginny's robes as the clay released its contents, spraying everyone standing in the vicinity of the two beds and reaching as far as Lavender's covers.

None of them noticed. They were too horrified at what was left of Larry Moore and Justine Carter.

Their faces were gone. It looked to Ginny that the entire top layer of skin had been burned away when the blood soaked into the masks. All that remained was the exposed parts of their skulls and the still-functioning organs that lay beneath.

Lavender started screaming, which woke Seamus up. Professor McGonagall took two steps back and pressed her hand to her mouth as if she was going to be ill. Colin did lose his lunch, quickly turning away before throwing up all over the floor. Professor Flitwick's mouth open and shut like a fish out of water. All the colour had drained out of Neville's face while Luna's remained remarkably impassive, her wide eyes the only sign that she was horrified. Madam Pomfrey let out a scream of outrage before flicking her wand at the curtains surrounding the beds. They immediately snapped shut, leaving Ginny, Professors McGonagall and Flitwick, and Madam Pomfrey within the enclosure.

"Is there anything we can do for them?" Professor McGonagall demanded.

Madam Pomfrey quickly Petrified the two students. "That will do for now. I'll contact St. Mungo's right away."

Professor Flitwick was sobbing again, and Ginny couldn't stand to see those two faces any longer. She knew they would be haunting her dreams for a long time to come. Silently, she picked up a pristine white towel and laid it over Larry's face. Then, she skirted around to the other bed and did the same thing for Justine.

"Thank you, Miss Weasley," Professor McGonagall said in a faint voice. "Go back to your common room immediately."

"Could I see Seamus and Lavender, please?" Ginny asked.

McGonagall hesitated, then nodded. "Very well. Stay no longer than 10 minutes."

Ginny emerged from the curtained beds and joined the small cluster that had formed around Lavender's bed. Seamus had squished himself into Lavender's bed and had his arms around her shoulders. She had turned her face into his chest, her back silently heaving with sobs.

"What happened?" she asked softly.

"Dark Arts," Seamus replied. "They're …" He swallowed. "They're requiring seventh-year Slytherins to learn the Unforgiveables." He gave them a rueful smile. "Guess who target practice is?

"It's horrible," Lavender sobbed.

"Goyle messed up Lavender pretty badly. Crabbe got me." Seamus gave Ginny a rueful grin. "We're lucky they can't pull off a _Crucio_. Yet. Crabbe's boasting that he plans to learn _Fiendfyre_. I'm not sure what it is, but I bet it's pretty nasty."

"We'll have to research some stronger shield charms. I'll see what's in the Restricted Section before the next DA meeting. I'll let you rest." Ginny bade them good night and pulled the curtains around the bed. She turned to Neville and Luna. "I'm not sure how well we're going to be able to defend ourselves," she admitted.

"There's only so much we're going to be able to do," Neville replied. "There's talk that once the seventh years learn the Unforgiveables that they'll be allowed to use them on the younger students."

"That's horrible." Ginny shuddered. "Let's go. We need to research some more spells. Luna?" She turned to her friend, who had her head tilted toward the curtained-off beds. Neville and Ginny glanced at each other before joining her.

" … sure it was Potter, Weasley and Granger?" Madam Pomfrey was saying.

Ginny's breath caught in her throat.

"Quite sure," Professor McGonagall replied. "No one is sure what they were doing in there, but it appears they were using Polyjuice Potion. It's no surprise that Miss Granger is able to brew it. I suspect she's known since her second year. They were in there looking for something. I wish Mr. Potter had said something. We could help."

"The boy does have the need to take the world upon his shoulders," Madam Pomfrey replied. "He wouldn't seek help unless it was his last resort."

"Agreed," Professor McGonagall said, and Ginny nodded as well. "I have a feeling whatever those three are up to is a result of the lessons Albus was giving Mr. Potter last year."

"What were they?" Professor Flitwick asked.

"Albus wouldn't say. Just that he was preparing Mr. Potter to take on You-Know-Who." Professor McGonagall cursed under her breath. "In any case, I suspect they're looking for something that will defeat him"

"Will they eventually come here?" Madam Pomfrey asked.

"I would be very surprised if they didn't. When they do, we will be prepared to render them aid." Professor McGonagall's voice raised. "And, I suggest that the three of you stop eavesdropping and return to your common rooms immediately, Miss Weasley, Mr. Longbottom and Miss Lovegood."

They scurried out of the Hospital Wing. But, instead of heading to their common rooms, they went to the Room of Requirement instead.

"Remember that article last month?" Ginny reminded Neville and Luna. "The infiltration of the Ministry. They were talking about that."

"But, everyone knows about it," Neville said, sinking into his normal armchair. "Everyone figured out it was them. Why remind us about it?"

Ginny waved her wand, summoning the copy of _The Daily Prophet_ that wrote about the incident. It flew off one of the shelves into her hand. "I don't think it's that. I think Professor McGonagall was trying to let us know that they're looking for something specific. Maybe, if we can figure out what Harry, Ron, and Hermione are doing, we can help them from the school." She studied the paper. "The target seemed to be Umbridge, and she said that a family heirloom was taken. A locket." There were two images of Dolores Umbridge - one in the aftermath of the raid, the other a recent official Ministry portrait. "There," she said, tapping the portrait, making the Umbridge within scowl at her, "she's wearing the locket here." Ginny frowned, tilting her head as she studied the locket. "It looks familiar."

Luna peered over Ginny's shoulder. "It has the mark of Slytherin," she observed, absently readjusting her wand behind her ear.

"That's where I saw it! Grimmauld Place! It was part of the junk Sirius was getting rid of," Ginny realized. "Why would they need that?"

"Maybe they need something from all the founders?" Neville wondered.

"It's not a bad theory. You heard what Professor McGonagall said. They're probably looking for something that will defeat You-Know-Who, and maybe something from the founders will give them extra power."

"What are we going to do about students being cursed?" Neville asked.

"Step up the defense spells. We need to start teaching the younger students a basic _Protego_ and some minor jinxes, even if it's enough to help them run away. The common rooms are still safe places." For now, Ginny added silently. "I'm going to set up our next meeting."

"Perhaps," Luna suggested, "you could study the poem."

Ginny gave her a blank look. "I'm sorry?"

"The Sorting Hat's poem. I believe the Sorting Hat knows how to help Harry. If you figure out the poem, you know what you'll need to give him."

Ginny considered this for a moment.

"The most obvious answer tends to be the one right under your nose," Luna said.

Ж•Ж•Ж•Ж•Ж

The next morning, Ginny was halfway through a rasher of bacon when Neville frowned, glancing about the Great Hall. "Something's missing," he said aloud.

"I think that's a bit obvious," Ginny said a bit sourly, glancing at the half-empty Gryffindor table. If she daydreamed enough, she could almost imagine Harry, Ron, and Hermione clustered near her, Hermione reminding them all to study for their N.E.W.T.s while Ron did his best to consume enough food to feed a small country. Harry tended to eat more quietly, but in the weeks they dated, they'd taken to squeezing each other's hands every so often under the table.

"No. Something's really weird about the Great Hall." Neville scanned the room, and Ginny finally followed suit.

It looked the same as it had since early September. The House tables were only half as full as they were in previous years. The remaining professors ate at the Head Table with the exception of Snape, whom Ginny had barely seen since the start of term, much to her relief. She couldn't figure out what was off except …

"Where are the owls?" Ginny suddenly whispered in horror to Neville. "There's not been any owl deliveries!"

"You noticed that, too?' Colin seated himself next to Ginny, and all three teens' gaze immediately shot toward the ceiling. There was nothing. No stately barn owls delivering copies of _The Daily Prophet_. None of the school owls with letters or packages. Ginny remembered that she'd sent Pigwidgeon off with a letter to her family, and he was due to be back that morning.

"Excuse me, students!" Professor McGonagall's voice, amplfied by a _Sonorous_ charm, echoed through the room. "Students, due to changes in Ministry regulations, mail delivery via owl to and from Hogwarts will no longer be accepted."

The students fell silent before cries of outrage sounded. Even the Slytherins, Ginny noted, were upset at this change.

"Students!" McGonagall yelled, and it took another five minutes for the group to calm to the point that they listened. "Mail delivery will now be conducted through your Head of House. All mail will be delivered to your common room after breakfast. Classes will be delayed 15 minutes for the change, and your timetables will be adjusted accordingly. Any letters you wish to send home will be handed to your Head of House at that time. They will be delivered to a Ministry liaison who will take care of delivering them to your families. Your Head of House will meet with you in 10 minutes. Please go back to your common rooms immediately."

In better days, Ginny would have hung behind to speculate this development with Neville and Colin. But, in the absence of Ron and Hermione, no new prefects had been elected to take their place. Even the position of Head Boy and Head Girl were vacant. It was an oddity that had driven Ginny to peruse a copy of _Hogwarts: A History_ to find that while the headmaster normally chose prefects, the Sorting Hat chose the Head Boy and Head Girl.

In the interim, Ginny and Neville had unofficially become prefects. They helped escort the younger Gryffindors back to the common room, comforting the first and second years who were nearly in tears at the thought of not being able to contact your family.

"Your mum and dad wrote you, I promise," Ginny said soothingly as she escorted a first-year girl named Colleen through the portrait hole. "Professor McGonagall has their letter in her hand, I bet."

"Is it safer this way?" Colleen asked, hastily brushing her robed arm over her eyes.

Ginny was torn. She didn't want to lie to the child, but she couldn't tell her the truth. "The Ministry feels that it's best at this time," she said.

"It's because of Harry Potter, isn't it?" Colleen turned angry eyes to Ginny. "They … they say all this bad stuff is happening because he broke into the Ministry. I thought he was suppose to be nice."

"He is nice!" Ginny dropped to her knees and gently took Colleen by the shoulders. "Harry Potter is the bravest man I know. You know he's a Gryffindor, right?"

Colleen nodded slowly. "But, all Gryffindors aren't nice."

"There's gits in every house," Ginny agreed. "But, not Harry. He was suppose to be in seventh year this year. But, he had to leave because he's going to save us all from You-Know-Who. He's going to keep your mum and dad safe, and he's going to keep you safe. That's what Gryffindors do."

"Mr. Potter is an excellent man, Miss Pensley," Professor McGonagall spoke up. "Do not listen to those who've told you otherwise." She handed Colleen a letter, and the little girl beamed and rushed off to read it. "Do show up in your class on time, Miss Pensley," she said, then smiled at Ginny. "Well done, Miss Weasley. Ten points to Gryffindor." She handed Ginny two letters.

"Thank you." Ginny broke the seal, then nearly dropped the letter when she saw that parts of the parchment had been cut away. "What this, Professor?"

Professor McGonagall took the letter with a disapproving frown. "Just what I feared," she told Ginny. "The Ministry is censoring mail."

"But, we always knew that our mail was at risk of being intercepted," Ginny protested.

"Yes, Miss Weasley, but in this case, the Ministry wants you to know it's been intercepted. I know your family is discreet," she continued as Ginny started to argue, "but it's more of a statement than anything. However, this is why the Ministry demanded that letters be passed through them." Her expression softened a bit. "I never got a chance to thank you and Mr. Longbottom for the work you're doing with the younger students, as well as your extracurricular activities. I wish I'd been able to name you both full prefects, but the Headmaster …"

"It's OK, Professor. I think Fred and George would have a heart attack if I was prefect," Ginny said with the first true smile that day. She figured since Professor McGonagall brought it up that it was a good time to ask the other question that she had. "Professor, why don't we have a Head Boy and Head Girl this year?"

"The Sorting Hat did supply me, before Headmaster Snape took over, with the names of the Head Boy and Head Girl," Professor McGonagall said. "However, neither student was able to attend this year, and the Hat chose not to name substitutes."

Ginny felt a lump in her throat, and she swallowed hard. "Harry and Hermione?" she whispered.

Professor McGonagall drew in a deep breath and gave the slightest nod. "Now, off to class before you anger the Carrows, Miss Weasley."

Ж•Ж•Ж•Ж•Ж

It wasn't until shortly before going to bed that Ginny remembered the second letter. This one, she noticed, wasn't censored. The letter from her parents was censored where her father had discussed the fake "Ron" from what she could tell, giving her an update on "her brother's" condition. The second missive was from Fred and George and only had one sentence.

_Remember the candles we gave Mum for Christmas last year? We should do that again this year. Don't reveal the mini-ature ones to her in a letter. F&G._

"Candles?" Ginny spoke aloud as Crookshanks leaped onto the bed. He rubbed his head against her thigh until she began absently stroking him. Fred and George had given their mother a new set of high-end charmed knitting needles for Christmas the previous year, which caused her to cry and immediately order yarn for this year's jumpers. She thought back over all the gifts the Weasleys had exchanged with each other and with Harry, then gasped. Nudging Crookshanks aside, Ginny leaned over and held the letter over the candle burning next to her bed.

Fred and George had been inspired by Muggle spy techniques, including invisible ink. They were working on developing an invisible ink that would be revealed in two stages, they told her. The first would require holding the paper over a fire for a minute, followed by a charm that would reveal the actual letter. A code-breaker would try one or the other, they said, but not both.

After a minute, Ginny took the letter away from the flame and studied the words. "Don't reveal the miniature ones to her in a letter," she murmured, wishing Hermione was there to puzzle it out with her. "Don't … oh!" She grabbed her wand, remembering Fred and George experimenting with the charm. "_Revelamini Litterae."_

The original note faded, replaced by a full-length letter covering both sides of the parchment.

_Dear Ginnikins,_

_So, in the latest, greatest move our *lovely* Ministry has ordered, all mail in the Wizarding Britain must go through a newly established censorship office headed by everyone's favorite witch, Dolores Umbridge! Aren't you just thrilled? You know we are! Luckily, we perfected the invisible ink and charm we were working on last Christmas just in time to send you this. However, we can't risk sending you bottles of the ink itself, so we've included the recipe. All the ingredients are available in Hogwarts student kit, so you can easily get them. Sign your letters to anyone with 'hugs and kisses' and we'll know you've got a coded ink message on the parchment._

_Does the old wireless in the common room still work? If so, dust it off and use the password "Hedwig" around 9 tomorrow night. You might be pleasantly surprised._

_When you get a chance, you might want to head down to visit Hagrid. He misses Harry a lot. Try Saturday around tea time._

_F&G._

"Hagrid!" Ginny felt immediate remorse for not having gone to see him sooner. Care of Magical Creatures was no longer among her listed courses, and other than glimpsing him during the start-of-term feast, she hadn't seen nor heard from him. She'd never been as close to him as Harry, Ron and Hermione were, so the only time she'd gone to visit him outside of class was during the brief time she dated Harry. Even so, Harry would have wanted someone to check on Hagrid.

A quick check of her potions supplies revealed that she did have everything needed to make the invisible ink, but it would use up a good bit of her stores. She would need to order more, but with owl delivery restricted and nothing from the staff about a Hogsmeade weekend, she wondered how she could get more. There was one advantage to being the sole person in a dormitory, Ginny realized as she set up her cauldron over the fire. She wouldn't have to explain her actions to anyone but Arnold.

Still, it was a lonely existence. She'd always been around a large crowd of people constantly barging in on her personal space — from her family at home to sharing a dormitory with four other girls. There was no clothes other than her own strewn about. No giggling in the middle of the night or whispered gossip. No makeup spilling out of trunks or different perfume scents or snoring. Closing her eyes, Ginny fought back the sadness that started to creep through her. She was no good to anyone if she got miserable, she sternly told herself, but was mortified to see tears dripping onto her pyjamas.

Crookshanks butted his head against her leg and she plopped down on the rug in front of the fire. She gathered the large cat into her lap and, rocking back and forth, cried silently into his fur. He was remarkably patient and didn't start squirming his way out of her hold for a good five minutes. He slithered away, but settled next to her so she could keep petting him as Arnold chittered away as he rolled on one of the empty beds. Ginny quickly sniffed, wiped her tears away, then removed her cauldron. She could make the ink later.


End file.
